Dr.Marco Meucci, Assistant Professor with the Department of Health and Exercise Science, serves as the director of the Community Health and Fitness Assessment Program. Meucci’s journey began as a coordinator for the Community Testing program in 2016 when the laboratory was located in the Holmes Convocation Center. In the beginning, there were three students working in the lab. Since then the program has evolved to include over 20 student workers and is now located in the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences.
The Community Health and Fitness Assessment program uses state-of-the-art equipment to offer a complete physical fitness assessment. This assessment takes approximately 120 minutes and includes the following four components: body composition, gait and balance (a new collaboration with Dr. Jared Skinner, director of the Locomotor Learning Laboratory), arterial health (blood pressure + arterial stiffness), and metabolic testing (resting metabolic rate + fitness aerobics). The laboratory test results are completely confidential and you may use them to monitor your improvements in physical health and activity. You are also encouraged to share them with your health professional who can help you achieve your health and fitness goals.
Led by Dr. Marco Meucci, the Community Health and Fitness Assessment Program has evaluated over 30 participants during the past four months, with the goal to continue expanding its services to the community. Meucci hopes to offer the program’s services to athletes of all ages, particularly the pediatric community. More recently, Dr. Meucci collaborated with a team of students, Dristen and Ryan Trate, and a local physician, Dr. Cate Trate, to implement some of the Blue Zones Project® philosophies in a Boone neighborhood. According to Meucci, “This continued collaboration will allow people to have a better understanding about their present health and fitness level and from this baseline, they can make lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise and track their progress.”
Since the program operates in a learning and research laboratory, there is a $50 cost for the four assessments (body composition, gait and balance, arterial health, and metabolic testing). Optional tests are provided upon request. The cost of the optional tests are as follows: Electrocardiogram ECG $5; Blood lactate during exercise $30; Blood analysis (hematocrit, glucose, LDL, HDL, triglycerides) $15; Hydration $5.
The Community Health and Fitness Assessment program also welcomes donations of any amount to support the program. According to Meucci, this year the program received $3,500 in donations from community members and a non-profit organization called Footprint Possibilities. These funds allowed them to hire a student worker who is helping manage and grow the program. Your donations allow the program to:
Help you. We will purchase equipment we can use to enhance and better our service.
Help your neighbor. Other community members will be able to have free access to our service.
Help our students. Students will be hired to work for the program, allowing them to gain hands-on experience in a working laboratory.
For additional information, please visit their website.
Community Health and Fitness Assessment Program
Community Health and Fitness Assessment Program